Rocky Road ~ House of Brisa, Dave, Koa, and Owen

[Flyg0n]

Koa shook his head. "Not exactly. People from my world don't have powers. And I don't think they can really get them either." Unless those weird stories about aura users and stuff were true, but that was something else entirely.

"He got close though. By controlling Palkia and Dialga's and using them." An old flicker of anger colored his tone slightly. "He probably would have succeeded but... Giratina stopped him."

 

[Dragonfree]

Legendaries. Of course. And this kid had previously insisted having legendaries was good actually?

"Okay, Jesus. So Giratina, what, killed him?"

 

[Flyg0n]

"N-no, not exactly." Koa fidgeted. "Just... dragged him into the Reverse World."

Away from the imperfections he hated so much. Probably happier there, like Icetales had said.

 

[Dragonfree]

"So is that, uh, some kind of hell-dimension?" Christ. Was that why the kid was asking? The notion of infinite punishment for finite sins?

 

[Flyg0n]

"Hell-dimension?" Koa cocked his head and frowned. "No. At least I don't think so. I've been there before-not my worlds, but the one on Cibus. When we were looking for Sword."

Then again, Cibus was a much nicer realm. Somehow he doubted his Reverse World was just filled with weird pokemon. "In my world, Reverse World is Giratinas realm. It's not evil, it's just... empty I think. I-"

The old memory resurfaced.

'Do not look for me.'

Swallowing, he continued. "He always said he wanted a world without spirit. A perfect world. So I guess he got it." Koa exhaled slowly.

"I guess Soda just made me think about if someone like... that can be saved."

 

[Dragonfree]

...Right. That was called the Reverse World too. Should've connected that, even if his universe wasn't like Cibus otherwise. Not like it sounded like actually the same thing, but.

"Well, if you say he got what he wanted, and he can't try to rewrite reality anymore, doesn't that mean everyone wins?" Dave tilted his head. "What's your investment here? Why do you want to save this guy? I'm getting the sense there's something you're not telling me here."

 

[Flyg0n]

Everyone wins...

Right?

Koa suddenly felt uncomfortably hot, his skin prickling and a lump growing in his throat. He knew this might come up, but he'd wanted Dave's opinion. Would he even care? Probably not. He'd just forget it all soon anyways right? So what difference did it make?

He opened his mouth, then quickly swallowed before forcing the words out. "he's my father."

It came out so quietly he wasn't even sure if Dave caught it. He somehow found himself looking anywhere but directly at Dave.

 

[Dragonfree]

Oh. Oh, shit. What the fuck.

"Uh. Jesus, that's..." He paused. Koa was looking away like he wished he hadn't said it at all. "I mean, why did he want to rewrite reality? Soda had that whole warped justification about saving his partner from a universe he thought she was trapped in, and wanting to put everything back the way it was when he was done. Your dad have something like that going on, or just pure batshit?"

Not that Soda hadn't deteriorated from all that into pure batshit anyway.

 

[Flyg0n]

"I-I don't know," he muttered. Maybe, a long time ago, he'd thought Cyrus was trying to do good. He remembered the speeches, the promises, and the fancy words about how the world was filled with injustices. How he wanted to fix it. Rid it of imperfection.

Koa shook his head, staring at his paws. "...I don't know. He always said he wanted to rid the world of imperfection. He believed he could make a world without strife or whatever. A perfect world."

Without you.

He pushed the dark thought aside, forcing himself to stay calm. "Anyways. Doesn't matter. He didn't have much reason and... he got what was coming."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave squinted at him. “Well, I don’t know about you, but to me ridding the world of imperfection sounds like a euphemism for fucking eugenics or something. If he didn’t mean it that way he really needs a better PR team.”

Koa still looked miserable, staring downward. “I mean, wanting less conflict and strife is cool and all but that’s how people work. Thinking you can get rid of conflict between people without plain brainwashing everyone into robotic compliance is fucking delusional. And then he goes and tries to do it using legendary reality-rewriting powers, which sure sounds more like it’s going to erase and brainwash people than champion pacifism. So, like, maybe your dad was nice to you and all, but maybe he’s also a nutcase. You know?”

 

[Flyg0n]

"I know," Koa hissed out, holding back the turbulence inside him. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to take another breath. "I know he's a nutcase, I know he's a monster, I just-"

Just what? Wanted to save him? Why did he even care he hated him anyway. He groaned. "Maybe if I'd-" he let the thought trail away. Maybe he didn't even know what he wanted anymore. "Nevermind," he muttered.

Maybe he just wanted a normal life.

"Thanks. For the advice."

 

[Dragonfree]

Maybe if I’d—

Did Koa think this was his fault somehow? That archetypal thing where children of divorced parents think they’re somehow responsible for their fights, but on steroids? Christ.

“Look… when you say you want to save him, what’s that mean? You’re hoping to get him out of the Reverse World, or to somehow change his mind about rewriting the world? Because if he wasn’t externally manipulated into this, people rarely get to that point without spending a whole lot of time digging in their heels. You can’t expect to be able to wave a magic wand and just fix him. I don’t know what’s going on in this guy’s head, but that’s not usually how it works.”

Dave sighed. “But also, it’s not your fucking job to fix him. He’s responsible for his own actions and that’s got nothing to do with you. If he chooses to be a dick, that’s his problem, end of. You’re not responsible for your dad’s bullshit just because he’s your dad.”

 

[Flyg0n]

Dave's words stung, but in a way that alleviated some of the pain.

You’re not responsible for your dad’s bullshit just because he’s your dad.

He let out a long, heavy sigh. Laying down, he rested his head on his paws. "Yeah. Yeah you're right." He fell silent for a moment. "I guess... I know I can't save him. I just wish things could have been different. Did you ever-" he paused, trying to form his next words.

"Did you ever have that? I don't want things to be perfect, I know it can't be like that, I just wish maybe I could change things a little. That the world could be a little better. You know?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave took a sharp breath. "I mean, who the fuck doesn't want the world to be better."

--Jean hugging him, sobbing, until he came up with some tortured fantasy where everything'd magically turn out okay--

"Wanting the world to be better means you care about something. Wanting the world to be perfect is delusional. Going out to make it perfect by seizing the power of legendaries to rewrite reality is fucking lunacy. Big difference."

 

[Flyg0n]

Something told Koa Dave knew, maybe better than many, what that felt like. And somehow, Dave's reassurance that wanting the world to be better simply meant that he cared... he felt better, in some way. Perhaps he did care. Maybe the reassurance was what he'd been looking for.

"Do you care?" he asked Dave curiously. If Dave was here, he was sure that he did.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, I care about a lot of things. Dunno if they're the same things you care about."

Change things a little.

"Haven't you ever seen how fucked up everything is... and wish you could make a little wave with your hand... and change it? Everything... everything everything everything everything everything..."

"So what is it you want to change, anyway?" Dave asked, casually.

 

[Flyg0n]

"I guess I don't know yet," Koa said, after a long pause. "I know I wanted to catch a legendary to show the legendaries there's good humans I guess. And show people that they can still work together but..."

What did he really want? He'd been thinking about it, ever since Icetales had asked him something similar but he wasn't sure he had an answer. Was he supposed to have one?

All he could offer was a shrug. "Guess I'm still figuring out what else I want to do."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave blinked. "Catch one? Like, in a Pokéball? You can do that?" Well, there was an unsettling thought.

"I mean, improving legendary-human relations sounds great if you've got to have legendaries, so long as nobody's encouraging them to do any rewriting of realities or murder or brainwashing. Just... what, are you going to use them in battle?" What a fucking thought. Fourteen-year-old running around fighting people using a god.

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa couldn't help but laugh a little at Dave's bewilderment. It probably did sound a little crazy. "Yeah, you can do that. At least, I believe so. Pokeballs in my world... You wouldn't be able to catch a legendary unless it wanted to. Plus I probably still need to be able to defeat one. Not as easy as it is here."

He chuckled again, more to himself. What would he do if he succeeded?

"But yeah. I guess I would battle with it. Go exploring. Keep being a trainer."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave peered at Koa. For a moment he wondered if he was just fucking with him, but no, Koa was way too earnest about all this. At least he did insist you could only catch it if it wanted you to.

"Well, uh, if you did catch a legendary, you'd better be real careful. Even if you only have the purest of intentions, somebody else could try to get the ball off you and they might not have the same moral qualms with going on another reality-rewriting spree, you know? Or with hurting a kid who's standing in their way."